“We are not feral cat haters” – SPCA

To save or not to save feral cats is a question the SPCA is faced with continuously.

“We are not feral cat haters,” said SPCA Durban and Coast marketing manager, Megs Tweedie referring to a letter recently published in the Courier.

“It is important for the public to understand that feral cats are wild cats and that putting them into a cage to try rehome them is cruel, because of the stress they suffer from being confined,” she said.

“Furthermore, it is unfair towards domesticated cats to take in feral cats, as we run out of space and then have to euthanase a tame cat.”

Debbie Filmalter from the Ballito SPCA said they receive about five to ten feral cats a month, outside of kitten season.

“The feral cats we receive are often adult cats that are usually caught in traps, hired from us, by members of the public who find these cats a nuisance, as they set off alarms, fight with their domestic cats, spray in and around their properties or access their homes through open windows at night,” she said.

Filmalter said the received cats are first checked to see if their ears are clipped (a universal method to show a cat has gone through the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programme), check for a microchip (if possible, as they are difficult to handle) and then undergo a general health check.

“We assist the public with TNR, meaning if the feral cats are brought in a trap, they will be sterilized and the ears will be clipped and returned to the person for release on the same day, but this is not a free service.”

She said that most feral cats are brought in by nearby estates, such as Zimbali, Palm Lakes and Simbithi Eco Estate and that some of the estates have their own trapping systems in place, because of the abundance of feral cats and their ever growing population.

“Most of the feral cats are hugely aggressive and difficult to get close to,” she said.

With kittens however, a different procedure is followed.

“Kittens under six weeks of age are usually found abandoned by their mother or are very sick and are euthanased, as per our protocol, because we do not hand rear. If the kittens are tame and over six weeks old, we do all we can to find them loving homes.”

If the person who brought in the feral kitten refuses to have them euthanased, the SPCA will refer them to the ladies who work with feral cats in a private capacity.

The SPCA is a non-profit organisation and relies heavily on public donations as they receive nothing from the state and they need to cover their own costs and need to assist the unemployed, pensioned and underprivileged with medical assistance, inoculations and sterilisation.

For more information visit the Durban and Coast SPCA website, www.spcadbn.org.za, or call the inspectorate on 031-5796501 or email info@spcadbn.org.za.